Needham High girls lacrosse keeps up with state champ Westwood

Wednesday

May 8, 2013 at 12:01 AMMay 8, 2013 at 8:16 AM

Maddie Stenberg told her team after Monday’s 10-9 loss against Westwood concluded - “Use this as motivation.” Needham coach Beth O’Brien echoed her captain’s words during the team’s postgame meeting, as well as told her Rockets that they shouldn’t be disappointed with their effort.

Matt Noonan, needham@wickedlocal.com

Maddie Stenberg told her team after Monday’s 10-9 loss against Westwood concluded - “Use this as motivation.”

Needham coach Beth O’Brien echoed her captain’s words during the team’s postgame meeting, as well as told her Rockets that they shouldn’t be disappointed with their effort.

“Both teams are high-caliber teams,” said O’Brien. “They come to play, you’ve just got to be able to limit the amount of errors that you make and really just make a few less errors than the other team.”

Westwood used a 4-0 run in the second half to secure a two-goal advantage before Kira Oberle evened the score with back-to-back tallies with 2:25 remaining.

“(Kira has) great speed, she’s got a good first step, and she’s a type of kid under pressure that’s going to finish,” O’Brien said. “To be able to put two balls in the net – she’s just a smart kid that we knew we could start utilizing because we saw that she wasn’t getting doubled.”

But the Wolverines answered as Kim Egizi netted the game-winner with 1:16 remaining as the midfielder whipped a shot past Needham goalie Anne O’Connor’s knees to help Westwood defeat Needham 10-9 at Westwood High.

The loss was just Needham’s second of the season, the other coming against Franklin on April 19, while Westwood, widely regarded as the best team in the state, remained unbeaten moving to 13-0.

The Rockets came into the game with the momentum of six straight victories and had been gearing up for the Wolverines.

“Everything that we do prior to coming into this game is under a tremendous amount of pressure, everything is at a 110 percent speed, so we just mentally get our kids ready for that starting at least a week before,” said O’Brien. “Every game that we have prior to that (and) every practice that we have is in tiny spaces, lot of pressure, and move the ball as quick as you can.

“So I think they go in mentally knowing the things that they’re going to have to do to fight the battle and we’re going to continue to do that.”

The teams swapped leads throughout most of the first half before junior Catherine Conley and Kailey Conry pushed the Rockets ahead with three combined strikes to give Needham a 7-5 lead at the break.

Westwood won six draw controls early in the second half to help jumpstart its 4-0 run.

“I think one thing that was the difference in the first half was we were kind of winning some of them and as you’re running through that ball, taking the opportunities there, and I think we just kind of stepped a little bit off and they were coming through on those draws and that really made a big difference in the second half,” said O’Brien.

Needham played a majority of the second half without Conley (second yellow card) and Stenberg (minor injury), but O’Brien was still pleased with her team’s effort.

“We came over a lot of adversity to go down two of the state’s leading scorers, both Catherine and Maddie for a little stint there, and to see my team hang in there and fight the battle,” O’Brien said. “Did it hurt us? It might have, but I think in so many ways it gave us some strength that we need going forward.”

Stenberg finished the contest surpassing the 400-point mark in her career by adding one goal and two assists. As of Monday, she had recorded 402 points with 243 goals and 159 assists.

The Rockets rebounded to roll over Milton 17-3 on Tuesday as senior Julia Fletcher and junior Elizabeth Larkin each scored three goals helping Needham move to 12-2.

But it’s the loss to Westwood that the Rockets will use as motivation during the rest of the regular season and into the state tournament.

Needham defeated Westwood in the regular season last year, but lost to the Wolverines in the Division 1 South Final. The Rockets are hoping the reverse happens this spring when the postseason arrives.

Recreation and Sports

Original content available for non-commercial use under a Creative Commons license, except where noted.
Needham Times ~ 254 Second Ave., Needham, Massachusetts 02494 ~ Privacy Policy ~ Terms Of Service